I realize I’m a few weeks behind with this, but it’s still January so HAPPY 2014 EVERYONE! Last year was a year of complete growth and restructuring for me. Baby #2 and a new home will do that to you! And, while I’m incredibly grateful for all the joy and the change that 2013 brought, I was also super ready for this New Year to begin. I think I was ready like last July actually!

So I’ll start this post with a confession. Last year I had every intention of going through a great (I mean GREAT!) goal setting process that Lara Casey featured on her blog for the New Year. I read all the posts in January, started the steps (I think I made it to #3 of 14) and I even went so far as to print out the entire series and put everything in it’s own little folder. (Yes, I realize how wasteful that is but I’m a total paper girl!) And then, after all that, I kept “set 2013 goals” as an action item on my incredibly unrealistic to-do list for the entire year. I’m not even kidding. All. Year. Long.

That’s kind of how things went for me last year. Lots of great stuff that I wanted to do on my mind and my to-do list, yet not a lot of checking off or completing going on. And I’ll give myself a little credit, because I did have a one month old and a three year old at the beginning of 2013. Plus I orchestrated a super huge move and got us settled into our new home in the middle of the year, so it wasn’t like the whole year was a loss. Just a lot of the things I wanted to do for myself and for my business that seemed to be brushed to the side. So just imagine how happy I was to see Lara’s series, with improvements even, on her blog again this year. This year I’m ready!

So I’ve taken some time over the last few weeks to work my way through the steps and I’m happy to report that I now have ten well thought out goals and a plan of how to make those goals happen this year. I won’t bore you with all of them or even how they came to be but I did want to share one little part of the process with you. One of the steps is to select a word to represent your year and this year my word is “do.” I feel like I’ve spent the last couple years planning, getting ready for, and dreaming about what I want my life to be like. And then I held all these things in my heart because I didn’t feel that I was enough or that I had the ability or time to make these things a reality. Bottom line, I can’t tell you how good it feels to have a plan and how excited and ready I am for this year!

For 2014, I actually went a step further from finding my word and I have a quote that goes along with it to serve as a sort of motto. Last year, my motto was borrowed from Emily Ley’s “I will hold myself to a standard of grace, not perfection.” (Geez, I still love those words so much!) This year I borrowed from Diana Nyad’s words “Find a way.” Most of the obstacles that I need to overcome to conquer these goals (from a husband’s busy work schedule, to two adorable little ones who still need me 24/7, to stepping out of my own way and realizing that I really have it in me to work these things out) are still there. But this year I’m going to do my best to find a way to make the important things in my heart happen and I have a plan to do just that.

If you’re not familiar with Lara Casey, I really recommend following her work and maybe setting some goals of your own if you haven’t already. (This goal setting process that she has is so good! And she does mention several times in the blog posts that it doesn’t matter if it’s January, or July, or November…start anytime!) Visit her blog for more information.

Wishing everyone a fantastic 2014! Let’s all find a way to make our dreams happen this year!